Woodbury Heights board approves cannabis store on Mantua Pike, a borough first

WOODBURY HEIGHTS — Location is everything with a retail cannabis business, especially in a community with an ordinance that says, “Keep your distance from schools.”

The Zoning Board three months ago rejected a proposed cannabis store that would have been a little too close to an elementary school. A competing proposal to use a more distant site for a store was in front of the Planning Board on Monday night, and it got a very different reception.

At their June 5 meeting, planning officials approved Maryland-based Summit Wellness LLC to open a cannabis store in a former M & T Bank at Mantua Pike and Alliance Street. The property falls outside a 1,000-foot school buffer area the borough settled on last year.

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Kal Shah, the founder of Summit Wellness, bought the closed bank in March. The building is next to the College Square shopping center.

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Unlike the March 6 zoning hearing, few residents turned out for the planning hearing. Criticism was limited to one person, Mahesh Lekkala, the owner of a strip shopping center on the other side of Alliance Street.

Lekkala questioned whether the 20 parking spots the store would be enough for its customer flow. He speculated customers would park on his property.

“They’re going to spend quite a bit of time (shopping),” Lekkala said. “It’s not like someone is walking in and taking a six-pack of beer and leaving. You know? It’s an experience.”

Lekkala also was concerned about customers consuming their purchases on site, or close by. That behavior is illegal, but Lekkala said he does not have the time to monitor it.

“We’re, obviously, expecting them to go to their private residence and consume cannabis,” Shah told Lekkala. “Again, that’s a state law as well. It’s not something I’m telling you to do. … So, you know, if they don’t want to get fined by the law enforcement, then they have to comply with state regulations.”

Board Chairman Bruce Farrell said that problem is only speculation. “If it becomes a problem, it will be dealt with,” he said.

Mayor William Packer said customer conduct should be no different than with liquor store patrons.

“We’re not going to have people openly walking our streets, parking lots, and facilities, smoking cannabis,” Packer said. “I can promise you that. This place opens up, our police will be aware of it. Just like we’d pull somebody over … if they’re drinking Jack Daniels on the road. It’d be no different with this.”

Planning Board members voting to approve the store were Farrell, Packer, Debra Sesko, Scott Norcross, Susan Reim, Christi Davis, and Harry Elton. Vice Chairman Robbie Conley recused himself from the hearing, citing an unspecified conflict of interest.

Borough dealing lawsuit for saying 'no' to a retail cannabis business

Under an ordinance adopted in November, only one retail cannabis operator is permitted in the area running along Route 45 and the New Jersey Turnpike.

On March 6, a Zoning Board hearing was held for Blulight Cannabis LLC and its proposal to open a store in a former bank at 30 Elm Avenue. The Summit Wellness property is less than a half-mile distant.

However, the Blulight property was within 1,000 feet of St. Margaret’s Regional School. That fact made it a matter for the Zoning Board to review, instead of the Planning Board. The proposal was unanimously rejected, partly over the school buffer issue but also due to traffic concerns.

Blulight is suing in state court to overturn the Zoning Board decision.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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